Mastering Biology Practice Test

These questions are part of the practice quiz. Start practicing

• Resource partitioning among coexisting species typically leads to which statement?
• What is the predicted carrying capacity of the Daphnia culture?
• Carrying capacity is best described as:
• A moderate disturbance such as a severe thunderstorm is most likely to result in which landscape pattern?
• A population is most likely to experience exponential growth when resources are abundant and the initial population size is small.
• What is a commonly cited effect of moderate disturbances on local biodiversity?
• In the provided population growth data, during which interval did the population increase the most?
• Approximately how many 15-19-year-old males were there in China in 2010?
• Which statement about carrying capacity estimates is true?
• Which predator avoidance strategy is illustrated by mimicry between hornet moth and paper wasp, and by viceroy and monarch butterflies?
• In the first experiment, which variable is manipulated by the researchers?
• When is a bar graph preferable to show differences between two groups?
• Oyster populations are primarily composed of which age class?
• In logistic growth, when N exceeds K, what is the typical sign of the growth rate?
• The competition between the two bat species for roosting areas is an example of which type of interaction?
• If competing species are removed from an area, a population's realized niche would most closely resemble its
• Which description matches logistic (density-dependent) population growth?
• If a population is not migrating and births equal deaths, which shape best describes its age structure?
• From 1500 to 2010, the human population approximately followed the exponential growth model.
• What was the second major event that stimulated an increase in the human population?
• As population approaches carrying capacity, environmental resistance ______.
• The human population of Madagascar doubles about every how many years?
• In logistic growth, which description best characterizes the pattern?
• What does overshooting the carrying capacity mean in population dynamics?
• If birth rate remains constant but death rate increases, what happens to population growth rate?
• Which factor does not affect a habitat's carrying capacity?
• Which day range indicates a negative growth rate for the Daphnia population?
• Disruptive selection is characterized by
• Stabilizing selection tends to
• Sea urchin spines, snail shells, and rosebush thorns illustrate which predator avoidance strategy?
• If the population density is 10 MendAliens per hectare, how many MendAliens would occupy one square kilometer?
• The full range of resources a species could use in the absence of competition is called its fundamental niche.
• Keystone species are those species _____.
• Type II survivorship implies which pattern of death risk across ages?
• If rmax is doubled, how would the four population growth rates change?
• Which action would have no effect on carrying capacity K?
• Which two months have the highest average temperature?
• Which statement describes logistic growth as population approaches carrying capacity?
• If two distinct habitats favor extreme phenotypes, the resulting selection is
• Two bat species compete for the same roosting areas. This is an example of which type of interspecific interaction?
• In the logistic growth model, what happens to the growth rate as population size nears carrying capacity?
• On an island with 200 MendAliens living on 20 hectares, what is the population density in MendAliens per hectare?
• Which statement best describes the relationship between density-dependent factors and negative feedback?
• What does the scatter plot suggest about selection pressure from cane toad exposure?
• For a Type III curve, most individuals reach the maximum life span.
• Which factor is most likely to limit population growth as carrying capacity is approached?
• What percent of the plant species found on Madagascar are unique to that island?
• With rmax = 1.0 and K = 1,500, what is the general effect on the population growth rate when N exceeds the carrying capacity?
• Humans who have pets tend to be healthier than humans who do not have pets. Which term describes the relationship between a human and a pet?
• Which scenario is an example of density-independent population regulation?
• Two countries have identical fertility rates (three children per woman) but different average ages of childbearing: country A is 26 years and country B is 30 years. Which statement must be true about comparing their population growth rates?
• What unit is used with the red line on climatographs?
• The change in roosting habits of species 1 after species 2 became established is an example of which concept?
• Which ecological process describes the exclusion of a species from a resource due to competition?
• Which pattern describes a landscape with discrete patches of habitat of different types created by disturbances?
• In logistic growth, if the population size N exceeds the carrying capacity K, what happens?
• White-band disease in Caribbean coral reef communities is best described as which type of ecological effect?
• Between which years did the world population double according to the graph?
• Select the correct statement about the global carrying capacity for the human population.
• The statement that the world population increased from less than 2 billion to more than 6 billion during the 20th century is:
• Which biome best matches a climate showing cool to cold winters and warm summers in a temperate zone?
• If two populations have the same birth and death rates but different generation times, which has the higher intrinsic rate of increase?
• Which statement defines carrying capacity?
• If the MendAliens density is 10 per hectare, how many MendAliens would live on 5 hectares?
• Which organisms tend to have a survivorship curve similar to that described for oysters?
• Currently, how large is the worldwide population of humans relative to Earth's carrying capacity for humans?
• What do the blue bars on the climatograph represent?
• Why is the x-axis scaled as a percentage of maximum life span?
• Which population size has the highest growth rate among those above carrying capacity?
• Commensalism is which type of interspecific interaction?
• Which statement accurately describes the relationship between a species' realized and fundamental niches?
• Which statement best describes what the bars illustrate?
• Which group typically exhibits a mortality rate that remains fairly constant across an individual's life span?
• If rmax is doubled from 1.0 to 2.0, what is observed about the four growth rates for Ns > K?
• Stabilizing selection is best described as
• In a population dynamics graph with two axes, what does the right y-axis typically represent?
• The rate of human population growth is increasing.
• Which term best describes exponential population growth that forms a J-shaped curve?
• Which example illustrates a mutualistic relationship?
• Which biome does this climatograph represent?
• When species 2 is present, roosting areas one to two stories tall form the realized niche of species 1. Which term describes this narrower niche?
• The mark-recapture method would be best for sampling a population of _____.
• Among the four reported growth rates for Ns greater than carrying capacity, which value is the highest (least negative)?
• Carrying capacity can change with resource availability and environmental conditions. Is this statement true?
• For rmax = 2.0, which sequence correctly lists the growth rates for the four Ns above carrying capacity?
• Why is a scatter plot an appropriate type of graph for presenting the data from the second experiment?
• The unusually large cohort of children born in 1986–1990 is best explained by which phenomenon?
• Resource partitioning among coexisting species typically leads to which outcome?
• In a country, in 1970 average age of childbearing was 28 and average offspring per woman was 3. In 1980, average age of childbearing remained 28 but average offspring per woman dropped to 2, with death rate constant. How did the population growth rate change from 1970 to 1980?
• Which statement reflects the competitive exclusion principle?
• What primarily limits the length of a food chain?
• What is represented on the x-axis of the survivorship graph?
• What was the first major event that stimulated an increase in the human population?
• The reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone is expected to cause what effect on elk populations?
• Which of the following best describes a habitat mosaic?
• Which of the following statements best describes logistic growth?
• Under which of the following conditions would a population most likely experience exponential growth?
• Resource competition, territoriality, disease, and toxic wastes contribute to what kind of regulatory feedback in populations?
• At 50% of maximum life span, survivorship for a Type I curve is:
• In species with a Type II survivorship curve, individuals are no more likely to die at one life-stage than another.
• Which statement describes density-independent population regulation?
• Which statement best describes how ecological succession proceeds in a new environment?
• Did the Daphnia population ever experience a negative growth rate?
• Which barnacle species would occupy the left half of the rock at the end of summer if niche differentiation occurred between Chthamalus and Balanus?
• Which of these is a starting point for primary succession?
• Which factor does not contribute to environmental resistance?
• Approximately how many 15-19-year-old males were there in China in 2010?
• Which statement about Type II survivorship curves is correct?
• For a species with a Type II survivorship curve, less than ____% of individuals survive for 50% of the maximum life span.
• Which statement best defines the realized niche?
• According to MacArthur and Wilson's island biogeography theory, immigration and extinction rates on a given island mainly depend on which factors?
• What is the independent variable in the study examining cane toads' effect on black snakes?
• Which statement about the 20th-century population trend is correct?
• Which factor is not typically considered in basic population dynamics models focused on size changes?
• In a predation interaction, which statement best describes the effect on the predator and prey?
• Ignoring migration, which shape describes an age structure likely to increase in size?
• Which statement is true about the relationship between a species' fundamental and realized niches?
• Which observation would best support the occurrence of character displacement for body size in a salamander species pair in sympatry?
• Which pattern does the line in a population growth graph that levels off represent?
• In a mark-recapture study, initially catching and marking 130 MendAliens, releasing them, then capturing 90 with 20 marked, what is the estimated population size?
• The term 'niche' refers to
• Which action would increase carrying capacity K for a local mouse population?
• Which of the following best describes the purpose of a scatter plot in ecological data?
• What was the third major event that stimulated an increase in the human population?
• Which statement describes parasitism?
• What is the best biological explanation for why the population stayed below the carrying capacity between days 100 and 160?
• What is a lemur?
• In an ecosystem, phytoplankton are which trophic level?
• The statement 'China experienced a baby boom after World War II' is:
• What result offers the best support for the hypothesis that sea urchin abundance limits kelp distribution?
• Which description best defines the fundamental niche?
• What are population dynamics?
• In 1985, China’s rate of population increase was nearly 15 per 1,000. Based on prereproductive population, this projection is:
• What do the vertical blue bars on this graph represent?
• If an organism is a primary consumer, what does it feed on?
• In F. E. Clements' view of community organization, which statement best describes how species function within a community?
• In populations where two species compete, natural selection due to interspecific competition is most evident in which context?
• The curve label for molluscs survivership is which of the following?
• What is represented by the distance between two vertical white gridlines on this graph?
• What describes the pattern of precipitation on the climatograph?
• Parasitism is which type of interspecific interaction?
• Which statement about age pyramids is true?
• Which statement correctly describes the fundamental niche and the realized niche?
• If the researchers repeated this experiment, predict how the results would change for areas where cane toads have been present for 40-60 years.
• Why is a bar graph an appropriate type of graph for presenting the data from the first experiment?
• In Connell's classical competitive exclusion experiment with barnacles, which action was the third step?
• If a population's environment favors darker fur on dark rocks, which type of selection is acting?
• A human eats a deer. Which ecological term describes the relationship?
• True or false: The per capita rate of increase depends on the age of breeding and the number of offspring produced each year.
• Which statement best explains why carrying capacity estimates vary across studies?
• According to the principle of competitive exclusion, two species cannot continue to occupy the same ecological niche.
• Which statement best describes exponential growth starting from a small population with abundant resources?
• The term used to describe a harmless organism resembling a harmful one is _____.
• Jimsonweed toxins and skunk spray illustrate which predator avoidance strategy?
• What is the general pattern of survivorship for Type I curves?
• Which term applies to the relationship between a dog and a blood-sucking tick?
• Which statement best describes character displacement in ecology?
• Cellulose-digesting microorganisms live in the guts of termites and ruminant mammals. This relationship is an example of _____.
• An egret eats insects stirred up by grazing animals. Which term describes the relationship between the egret and the grazing animal?
• Humans and sharks both eat fish. What term describes their relationship?
• The most likely reason that the growth rate leveled off is that the environment reached carrying capacity.
• Which curve best describes survivorship in marine molluscs?
• Based on the dataset, at which interval does the population begin to show diminishing gains, approaching the carrying capacity?
• Which statement about exponential growth in population is true?
• Which result would best support the claim that kelp distribution is limited by sea urchin abundance?
• Which processes increase a population's size?
• Which predator avoidance method would best describe an octopus blending with its surroundings?
• Much of the original forest cover on Madagascar has been destroyed primarily as a result of which activity?
• Why is a percentage scale used on the x-axis rather than actual ages?
• What is the cause of the red color of the waters around Madagascar?
• Which statement best describes density-dependent population regulation?
• Which statement describes how species can coexist by using resources in different ways?
• Momentum explaining the large 1986–1990 birth cohort is attributed to which age-group?
• A population with a broad-based pyramid-shaped age structure is characteristic of which growth pattern?
• What is carrying capacity?
• Changes in the eyes of species 1 after species 2 became established illustrate which ecological concept?
• A broad-based pyramid-shaped age structure indicates which growth pattern?
• Which statement about density-independent growth is true?
• What is the best estimate of the total yearly precipitation in the region?
• Which of the following best illustrates ecological succession?
• What trend is observed in the species–area relationship for islands?
• Which action would most directly decrease carrying capacity K for the population?
• Which equation represents the logistic growth rate of a population?
• What does a negative growth rate indicate about population dynamics?
• Big-bang reproduction is favored under which condition?
• Environmental heterogeneity in a landscape most directly contributes to
• Disturbances creating patches of different habitat types across a landscape are described by which concept?
• Which statement best describes what the bars illustrate?
• In a community with competition for overlapping resources, what ecological process reduces overlap by dividing resources among species?
• According to this graph, species with a Type III curve typically produce large numbers of offspring.
• What does the red line on the climatograph represent?
• Which inference follows from the finding that kelp cover increases after removing sea urchins?
• Which statement is true about a population at carrying capacity?
• If the island covered 40 hectares while the MendAliens number remained the same, what would be the population density?
• Directional selection is best described as
• Which of the following is considered a density-independent factor in population growth?
• Does the measured growth match the predicted growth pattern?
• From 1500 to 2010, the population growth is described as which model?
• What is the best biological explanation for why the population growth rate became negative between days 70 and 105?
• If the distance between gridlines represents 50 years, how many such intervals are needed to span 100 years?
• Ignoring migration, which shape describes an age structure likely to remain stable in size?
• Which statement correctly describes energy transfer in a predation interaction?
• Which condition favors big-bang reproduction?
• Ignoring migration, which shape describes an age structure likely to decrease in size?
• Which organism has a survivorship curve similar to that of humans?
• Which of the following animals has a survivorship curve most similar to that of humans?
• The total population size is projected to increase through the middle of the 21st century.